Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, May 11, 1999

1999-05-11 04:00:00 PDT ORINDA -- A chiropractor accused of having sex with underage girls and suplying teenagers with drugs and money at his Orinda home pleaded guilty yesterday to statutory rape and other criminal charges in return for an eight-month sentence at a halfway house.

Becker pleaded guilty to having unlawful sex with two girls who were under age 16 at the time of the crimes in 1997. He is scheduled to be formally sentenced on June 8, according to the plea bargain.

Accompanied by his two attorneys in a Martinez courtroom, David Becker said "guilty" in a low voice as Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Richard Flier asked him to enter his plea to the eight felony and two misdemeanor counts.

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Becker was arrested last year after Orinda police announced they had found evidence that he had sex with several minors, provided marijuana to teenagers from the Contra Costa suburbs and showed child pornography to minors.

At the time of his arrest, residents recalled Becker as a noisy neighbor who often threw loud parties at his $700,000 ranch-style home and drove a classic British car.

"We think this is a fair resolution," said defense attorney Douglas Horngrad after the brief hearing as he and fellow defense lawyer Frank Leidman escorted Becker from the courtroom.

Becker's case had been put on hold for several months as Horngrad and prosecutor Gary Koeppel negotiated the terms of the plea. Under the conditions of the deal, Becker will be placed on probation for five years. And Flier has agreed to send him to a halfway house in Oakland administered by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons for eight months, despite the objections of Koeppel, who was seeking a county jail term for Becker.

Koeppel declined to comment on the agreement, saying he did not want to discuss the case before a probation report is completed and Becker is officially sentenced .

As a condition of his probation, Becker must notify police of his address and movements. Flier also ordered him not to transfer any of his properties or holdings in an attempt to avoid paying restitution fines in the case.

Becker will not receive any credit for good behavior while in custody at the halfway house, as he could while serving a normal jail term.

And although Becker appears to have avoided a state prison sentence, he will probably be sued in the coming months, said attorney Larry Cook, who attended yesterday's hearing and is representing the two victims in the case.